Thursday, February 10, 2011

On my love of food.

I love food.
I mean really love food.

Lately a lot of my time is 
spent thinking about grocery lists,
flavor pairings, & new dishes I want to try.
But it wasn't always this way.

When I was little I was one of those
ridiculously picky kids who had to be
bribed to eat much of anything.
I didn't really care for the taste of meat, 
so one day I just stopped eating any of it.
That was 19 years ago.

I know for most kids this wouldn't work.
Thankfully my parents are vegetarians
 & always served both veggie 
& meat options to my brother, sister, and me.
They made sure that I had a healthy diet, 
getting plenty of protein & vitamins.

My dad is a pretty fabulous cook.
The older I got, the more I appreciated
his creative dishes, 
began shedding my picky-eater habits,
and started doing a little cooking of my own.

Fast forward to life in Chicago.
Z& I had a 1 bedroom apartment with a tiny, narrow kitchen.
There was no room for a microwave, 
so we inadvertently joined the slow food movement.
We started eating more fresh food & fewer processed items.
We were forced to think more about what and when we were eating.

When we moved to California
we decided that we would maintain our
microwave-free existence.
I have really grown as a cook, trying new recipes 
& experimenting with lots of ingredients.
I've also discovered the joys of baking, 
making breads, doughs, and sweets from scratch.

We are definitely healthier overall than we were before, 
but we still enjoy some treats.
I mean, homemade fudge brownies & salted caramel
are just too darn good to give up completely.
But, I know exactly what's in them & can
add in an extra workout or two that week!

So...pictures?

Here's some cheese bread that I made recently.
Very tasty, but next time I'm going to make them
into smaller rolls & leave out the cheddar.
 A super simple lunch of spicy capellini &
spinach with a mustard vinaigrette.

I'm still trying to figure out how to overcome
my kitchen lighting issues to 
get better pictures of what's cooking
to share with you all.

I'd love to hear your favorite recipes
or your thoughts on food & cooking!

3 comments:

Golda said...

I love food too! My dad traveled the world in the Army and was the the cook in the family so he was always making some new interesting dish for us.

Also, we got rid of our microwave about a month and a half ago and so far I'm not missing it too much. It did make heating up leftovers for lunch much easier, but I'm learning to slow down and plan better.

Kathy Walker said...

What a delicious lunch!

Diana Mieczan said...

Yum...the food looks so amazing. I also dont own a microwave:) Hugs and kisses, darling